Kazakhstan Enters Market with Plans for Their Own Cryptocurrency

Kazakhstan has taken a leaf out of Russia’s book to launch a cryptocurrency owned and regulated by its Central Bank. The country, which had not taken centre stage in the cryptocurrency market previously, has shown interest with news coming out that it plans to launch its own cryptocurrency.

The Astana International Finance Center (AIFC) that is supported by the government in the country recently announced that they had a signed a deal with of cooperation with Exante, a Maltese firm.

Exante soon followed the announcement with a press release of their own, where they affirmed the news and mentioned that they had indeed gone into an agreement with AIFC. Exante, which is a next generation investment company, further stated that the deal included cooperation within the two parties regarding the development of the country’s untapped cryptocurrency market.

Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of the Astana International Finance Center, spoke with the media soon after and said, “Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are entering the mainstream of today’s economic reality.”

Financial regulators at Astana have already initiated the progress towards a national cryptocurrency and are planning to formulate a solid foundation for Kazakhstan’s entry into the cryptocurrency market. Kelimbetov further reaffirmed his belief that AIFC could become an international power in blockchain and would lead the way in the development of digital markets in the future.

Cryptocurrencies Backed by Governments

Kazakhstan will not be the first or the last country that has had the support of the government in regulating and backing the cryptocurrency venture. States across the world have shown their trust in cryptocurrencies and have directed central banks to issue state backed digital assets.

Estonia leads the wave of countries going for state-backed ventures back in April, when its government proposed a regulated digital asset that would be known as estcoin. Estonia, which is a small country located in Eastern Europe, said that it is considering launching estcoin through the means of an initial coin offering. Initial coin offerings or ICOs is a crowd funding method that has been host to much scrutiny from investors and regulators alike.

News from Russia, which has close ties with Kazakhstan, last week mentioned that the state will soon be moving towards a cryptorubel. President Putin has shown interest in cryptocurrencies and has directed subordinates to assess the situation and come out with a digital version of their currency.

Although numerous countries look suspicious of joining this wave, Japan is the biggest name of them all. Japan signaled a potential move towards digital currency last month, with an offering called J-Coin, but has gone quiet ever since.

If the news regarding the willingness of international leaders to experiment with the crypto-world is anything to go by, then we can see a drastic decrease in the gap between the traditional and digital world.

The technology is being covertly studied by authorities in Kazakhstan and Exante has not yet indicated a timeline for a launch if any.

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